Escape to the Tuscan Vineyard

Chapter Ten

I woke to the sound of tapping and silently opened one eye to find Tony already awake and checking his phone. I was used to being up before anyone else, but he was obviously an even earlier bird than me. Between him and Lucy, I was losing my first-mover advantage.

‘Morning,’ I muffled into my pillow. Tony had thrown me around for hours before we’d eventually fallen asleep, and I couldn’t wait to get to yoga and stretch myself out. I just needed him to leave before he bumped into Paolo or Mia. I didn’t want any awkward questions or disapproving looks as he did the walk of shame.

‘Hey! Good morning,’ he replied, still full of Californian pep, leaning towards me for a kiss. Mmm… he still smelt and felt so good. Maybe just this once it would be OK. We wouldn’t ever see each other again, after all. He rolled me over gently, kissing my neck, then my cheeks and eventually my lips. And then my alarm went off. Damn. It was 7 a.m.

I groaned and reached for my phone. ‘Time’s up, Tony,’ I said, playfully, turning the clanging off. ‘I’ve got to get up for yoga and you’ve got to get up and go before I get in trouble for having overnight guests.’

‘Love ’em and leave ’em – is that your style?’

‘I can hardly leave you, when you’re in my bedroom,’ I said. ‘But I had a great night, and I’m bound to see you around.’ Yoga was at half past, so I didn’t have time for a drawn-out goodbye.

‘Understood,’ he said, with a wink. He jumped out of bed and pulled his chinos on, his Calvin Kleins peeking out over the top. ‘No point exchanging numbers then?’

‘I’m not here for very long, so probably not.’

‘I guess if it’s meant to be, we’ll bump into each other,’ he said, grinning. Weirdo.

‘What’s so funny?’ I asked, throwing a pillow at him, as he put his shirt on and clicked his chunky watch into place.

‘Nothing. I’m just a big believer in serendipity, that’s all.’ He gave me one last kiss and I nearly dragged him back into bed but, NO. I had to be strong. As nice as it would be to have someone to play with while Holly was working, I had a one-and-done approach to men for a reason.

‘Do you know where you’re going?’ I asked, suddenly conscious he was in the middle of nowhere with a very unreliable bus service.

‘Yeah, don’t worry about me,’ he said. ‘Bye, Abi.’ And off he went. Easy. A little too easy. He didn’t seem bothered at all – he could have at least insisted I take his number. Was I losing my touch? It was one thing me not wanting to see them again – it was quite another when they stopped asking to see me. Not that I cared, obviously – all that limoncello must have given me hangover anxiety, I wasn’t normally paranoid and needy. A useful reminder that my two-drink maximum was there for a reason, as well.

My alarm went off for the second time and I hopped in and out of the shower, throwing on my gym gear, ready for my morning salutation. Yoga was on the patio, al fresco, but the sun was already up so I’d missed another chance to see the sunrise Holly had been raving on about. I ran downstairs and outside to find Dawn and Ellie already sitting cross-legged on pale pink mats, in the middle of the space. The teacher was in the lotus position, with her eyes closed and panpipe music playing quietly. Tiny tealights were dotted around to add to the ambience, and a large candle flickered wildly at the front.

‘Good morning, namaste.’ The teacher looked up slowly and bowed at me with prayer hands. A small, wrinkled prune of a woman, in a powder blue tracksuit.

‘Namaste,’ I replied. The goddess in me sees the goddess in you.

‘I am Viola. You are Abi, yes?’ She spoke with a strong Italian accent.

I smiled and nodded, grabbing a mat, and sitting at the front of the class. Ian and Cathy arrived last, with their matching water bottles. Ian sat next to me, and Cathy took a space in the back row. That was all five of us, present and correct.

‘Welcome, everyone. Thank you for joining this morning. We will start with some simple breathing exercises. Please close your eyes,’ Viola said, reading from a notepad and smiling at us one by one.

I sat cross-legged and slowed my breathing to a virtual stop. In for eight and out for eight, concentrating on extending each breath as I inhaled and exhaled. It was the only thing that had helped with the panic attacks after Josh had died. I was so good at it I was convinced I could be a professional free diver – for sixteen seconds at a time. We sat quietly, the music gently lilting alongside our breathing, as we relaxed as one.

‘Please stand up,’ Viola instructed, still reading out loud. ‘Pushing the soles of your feet into the mat and stretching down to touch the ground. Hold on to your ankles if you can.’ I could and I did and, as I looked through my legs to Dawn who was touching her knees behind me, I noticed a sixth member of the class had joined at the back. A man. I could only see the back of his head as he was also holding on to his ankles, but he had a strong physique, nice legs and beefy arms. This was quite the turn-up for the books. Maybe there’d be someone to play with, after all.

‘And release,’ Viola said, as we all stood up and faced forward. I was itching to turn round and check out the new guest, but I didn’t want to be too obvious, so I kept breathing and stretching, and standing like a tree, biding my time. With every new position I’d get the same back-of-the-head view. It was like trying to solve a jigsaw of a man without any pieces of his face.

‘And into downward dog,’ Viola said softly, as I swooped towards the floor, pushing up on all fours, to look between my legs, again. The blood rushed to my head and my ponytail tickled the mat, as I leant into my hands and feet. I could feel myself turning puce as I concentrated, staring at Mr Mystery’s Lego hair. I decided to stay in position a little longer this time and get a quick look before the next move. The suspense was killing me.

‘Now stretch all the way back into child’s pose,’ Viola instructed. I stayed staunchly in downward dog, as he shifted his position, then as he adjusted himself and looked up, I nearly collapsed in a heap. It was Tony. Our eyes met through my legs, and he gave me a wave. He had a perfect view of my arse. What the hell…?

‘And when you’re ready, move into warrior pose.’

I repositioned myself into a warrior woman, looking left, under the guise of stretching out my neck. Why was he still here? I couldn’t decide if I was shocked or flattered. He must have pretended to leave and then hung around waiting for me downstairs. How bizarre to join a private yoga class! Where had he got his outfit from? He even had a sweatband!

‘Allow your thoughts to drift… empty your mind…’ Viola whispered. I glared at him, through Dawn, who glanced behind her, trying to work out what was going on. Tony smiled in return, acknowledging me with a wink. I huffed my way through the rest of the class, imagining all the things I was going to say to him once we were done. Viola finished with a short meditation, giving us each a blanket to cover ourselves with. My mind raced as she chanted, and it felt like the incantation went on forever before she finally clashed together a tiny pair of cymbals and blew out her candle.

‘Namaste,’ she said, bowing her head low.

‘Namaste,’ we all chanted back.

Right. Now my zen was fully restored, I was going to totally lose my shit. I smiled at Viola as I rolled up my mat, watching Tony as he did the same. Un-bloody-believable. The audacity.

‘The class was good for you, Abi?’ Viola asked.

‘Fabulous, thank you.’

‘I’ll be here every day,’ she said, as Dawn jumped up with a question about her chakras.

I marched to the back of the class, my cheeks burning, as I remembered the feeling of Tony’s arms around me in the night. But, no – how dare he stay uninvited and join something as intimate as a yoga session without asking!

‘Hey! This is a surprise,’ I said, keeping my voice low, so we couldn’t be overheard. ‘What are you still doing here?’

‘Well, this is a coincidence,’ he said, smiling. ‘Fancy seeing you in my yoga class!’

I frowned. This was the problem with one-night stands. You had to hope they weren’t stalkers or serial killers based on a few hours of chat. I hoped he wasn’t fixating on me. ‘How can this be your yoga class? Look, I’m sorry if I’ve given you the wrong impression, but I’m uncomfortable with you still being here – waiting for me like this.’

‘Nothing to apologise for,’ he replied. ‘I’m not waiting for you.’

‘I just want to be super clear that this isn’t happening,’ I said, my hands on my hips. ‘In case you’re thinking… anything.’

‘Anything?’ Tony said, with a bemused smile. ‘Anything at all?’

‘I’m not really the romantic type,’ I said, tapping my necklace three times. It was a lie, but better than the truth.

‘Tony!’ Viola cried, as he looked up and smiled. She ran straight into his arms, kissing him hard on both cheeks and hugging him tight, as I watched in confusion. ‘Come stai?’

‘Zia!’ he replied, delighted, spinning Viola around. ‘See you later,’ he mouthed over her shoulder, while I tried to work out what was happening.

They started talking in Italian, so I left them to it. Serendipity my arse. I followed the others into the breakfast room, where Paolo was poised and ready, his frying pan already hissing.

‘Ciao, Abi, one of my pancakes for you?’ he asked.

‘Sorry Paolo, I’m keeping it simple this morning,’ I said, taking a nectarine from the buffet.

‘Per favore?’ he begged, looking lost. He was whisking a huge bowl of batter and had nowhere to put it. The others were already sitting two by two out on the pool deck, so I was his last hope.

‘Umm, OK then, maybe just the one.’ The Nutella was making me anxious. ‘But can I have it plain, with lemon juice – no cream or sugar?’ It was hard enough navigating the cheese and wine situation out here. I didn’t want to start adding chocolate spread to my morning routine.

‘My pleasure,’ he said, pouring the batter into the sizzling hot oil.

I stood and watched as he made the biggest pancake I’d ever seen. Thick, fluffy, American-style pancakes, but supersized. It looked like a Spanish tortilla.

‘Ecco,’ he said, presenting it to me. I eyed it with caution as he clanked the frying pan down.

‘Tonnnyyyyy!’ he shouted over my shoulder. For the love of God.

Tony and Viola walked arm in arm into the restaurant, in a chatting frenzy, and Paolo jumped on them both in a three-way hug.

‘Ciao, Paolo,’ Tony said, his face between the two of them. He looked over and smiled. ‘My brother and my zia.’ He shook his head and corrected himself. ‘My aunt.’

I was even more confused. How was this happening? I wasn’t supposed to ever see him again and now here he was, post-yoga, about to sit down and have breakfast next to me. He did look good though. I took my pancake pillow out into the sunshine, while they carried on their cuddle.

‘Coffee?’ Mia appeared with a tray full of cups and her gaggle of puppies.

‘Morning. Yes please,’ I said, as a particularly loud laugh emanated from Paolo. Mia looked over fondly and smiled.

‘Paolo hasn’t seen his brother for months. He is visiting from America,’ she said. Nero nuzzled into my ankle and then cried to be picked up. I lifted his little body into my lap and took a sip of coffee.

Tony came marching over and kissed Mia on the cheek. ‘Bella.’

‘Ciao, Tony,’ she said, looking surprised as he pulled out the chair next to me. ‘This is Abi, one of our guests.’

‘I know, we met last night,’ he replied, stroking Nero’s head. How did he still smell so good?

‘At Lavedrine X,’ I said, in explanation.

‘Ahhh of course!’ Mia replied. ‘Tony was supposed to arrive today, so we weren’t home to welcome him. Paolo suggested he eat at Xavier and Holly’s.’

‘I got an earlier flight,’ Tony said. I wasn’t used to this level of noise and activity over breakfast. All this unnecessary information. I nodded and ate a mouthful of my Yorkshire pudding pancake, Nero watching my every move.

Mia handed Tony a coffee and left us to it.

‘So, you’re staying… here?’ I croaked, hiding behind my sunglasses and avoiding eye contact.

‘Yes. Sorry about that. I probably should have mentioned it,’ he replied, coyly. ‘I didn’t mind you kicking me out this morning as my bedroom is only over the corridor from yours.’

‘Is that what you call serendipity?’

‘I’m a big believer in it,’ he said, straight-faced.

‘I see.’

‘Even if you’renot the romantic type,’ he added, pointedly.

‘Sorry about that little outpouring,’ I said, suddenly flustered. I pulled my hair out of its plait, and ran my fingers through it, fluffing it forward to cover my face.

‘Not at all. I quite enjoyed it,’ Tony said, with a cheeky smile.

I didn’t know where to look as he arched a knowing eyebrow. I thought back to us tangled up in bed together only a few hours earlier and my cheeks went hot. He was completely disarming. ‘You took me by surprise, that’s all,’ I mumbled, desperate for the conversation to end.

‘Well, you took me by surprise last night, so that makes us even,’ Tony replied, stirring a sugar into his espresso, then drinking it down in one.

‘I don’t want it to be awkward with us both staying here.’

‘Not awkward at all. If that’s your MO, then fair enough,’ he said, then whispered to Nero, ‘Don’t get too comfortable, buddy, I was where you are last night.’

*

Me: You’ll never believe it. That Tony guy is Paolo’s brother! He’s staying in the room opposite me!

Holly: What? Oh nooo! Awks! Mia said he was coming to stay, but I had no idea – I’ve never met him xx

‘Hey, neighbour,’ Tony whispered, lifting my headphones and making me jump. I was engrossed in a true crime podcast and just getting to the good bit. I slid my headphones off and sat up on my lounger, shading my eyes from the sun.

‘Hey, yourself, how’s it going? Have you settled in?’

‘As if I’d never been away. I’ve already hired a Vespa and I’ll probably be smoking again before the week is out.’

I wrinkled my nose on both counts. That felt like quite the unravelling.

He started to unpack his rucksack on the next sunbed. Towel, book, hat, sun cream, then stopped as I watched. ‘Mind if I sit next to you?’

‘Er… well, actually, I’m…’

‘Don’t worry, I’m not thinking anything.’ He laughed, making quote marks as he said it. ‘And I’ve brought beers,’ he added, pulling two bottles of Peroni out of his bag.

‘Well, why didn’t you say so?’ The bottles exhaled as Tony popped the caps off, and he passed me one. ‘I’m sorry about all the drama yesterday, but you could have just told me you were staying here. You tricked me,’ I said, feeling hot and bothered about making embarrassing assumptions.

Paolo dragged a sunbed over and sat down. I was suddenly surrounded by handsome Italian men – just as I’d always imagined Tuscany to be – and I repositioned my sarong, to show some decorum. My bikini didn’t leave much to the imagination.

‘I want to ask you both about something,’ Paolo said, seriously.

‘Go on,’ I said, as Tony oiled up his legs.

‘As you know, we are trying out some different activities this week to find out what works well at the vineyard. Not just bed and breakfast – we want to offer things for our guests to do too,’ he said, leaning back on his lounger.

‘You mean the bikes and the yoga?’ Tony said.

‘Exactly. The bikes are there for guests, and yoga will be every morning. The yoga was Viola’s idea, actually – how has it been?’ he asked.

‘Really good!’ I smiled, enthusiastically. ‘It would be even better if this little man was involved,’ I said, as Nero snuffled over. I picked him up and kissed him. ‘They do yoga with puppies in London these days, you know – they call it doga. You could try that? It’s a thing.’

Paolo laughed. ‘I’ll suggest it to Viola, but I think I know what she’ll say.’

Tony joined in. ‘She’ll say yoga is new-fangled enough, without adding animals into the mix.’

‘We have some other ideas, wine tasting, writing, massage, and one in particular I wanted to talk to you about,’ Paolo said, earnestly. ‘Mia is going to run an art class at the weekend. On Sunday, I think. She is very nervous about it, so I wanted to ask you to support her?’

‘Absolutely!’ Tony said.

‘Ah, how lovely. Yes, Holly mentioned it at dinner the other night. It sounds great – of course I’ll be there to support Mia. I’d love to do some painting while I’m out here.’

‘Holly tells us you are a very talented artist, Abi?’ Paolo said.

‘Did she?’ I was touched at the compliment, but it had been a long time since I’d picked up a paintbrush. ‘I used to be, but I haven’t done any for years.’

‘It’ll come back to you, it’s like riding a bike,’ Tony said. ‘Although you’re quite wobbly at that, from what I’ve seen.’

I laughed. ‘Well, even if it doesn’t, it’ll be fun to find out. Thank you for organising it, Paolo,’ I said, excited at the thought of flexing my artistic muscles.

‘Grazie mille for taking part,’ he said, beaming. ‘It will mean a lot to Mia if you’re both there. And to me as well. I will check with the others too.’ He stood up and wandered over to Ian and Cathy, to give them the same sales pitch.

‘So, you’re here until at least Sunday, then?’ I said, eyeing up Tony’s glistening torso.

‘Very good, Sherlock Holmes.’

‘How long are you staying?’

‘I haven’t decided yet. We lost our mother, Giorgia, last year, so Paolo and I need to sort out her estate. Sign all the paperwork for the vineyard and clear out her house.’ His smile faltered, and I felt his pain. The hell of probate was something I knew only too well.

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ I said, and genuinely meant it.

‘It’s strange without her about the place,’ he said, quietly. I handed Nero over, to give him some unconditional love. ‘I’ve got a break at work so I can spend two, maybe three weeks out here in total. There’s some flex on when I go back, but I want to spend as much time as possible with my friends and family before I do. Life is so short, you know?’

‘I sure do,’ I said, thinking back to my own painful life lesson. ‘It’s just a shame these awful moments have to happen to jolt us out of ourselves.’ In my case it had been the other way around. I’d been living my life wholly and freely with Josh by my side; it was only when he’d gone that I’d stopped. That I’d hidden myself away and decided the only way to protect myself, was to stay on my own.